The climate change decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court (Ref.: 1 BvR 2656/18) has received a lot of attention in Germany. This is because it ruled that parts of the German Climate Protection Act of 2019 were not compatible with the German Constitution. There would be a lack of sufficient requirements for the reduction of emissions after 2031, the legislature had shifted the impact of climate change to the detriment of younger generations and had not given them sufficient consideration. Their constitutional right to freedom would therefore be violated, as a much more substantial emission reduction obligation would be imposed on this generation after 2030.
Thus, the Federal Constitutional Court states: „Practically all forms of freedom are potentially affected because virtually all aspects of human life involve the emission of greenhouse gases and are thus potentially threatened by drastic restrictions after 2030. […] The legislator must take sufficient precautionary measures to ensure that freedom is respected when making a transition to climate neutrality.” So far, these have been lacking.
However, climate protection is not a national issue, but an international one. Governments in the Middle East and North Africa are also paying increasing attention to climate protection, and everyone has been long aware of the need for a change. Because the issue will also increasingly be of concern to the judiciary here, we were keen to translate the decision of March 24, 2021 into Arabic and make it available to those who are interested. Only together can we stop climate change and global warming, across countries and languages. You can download it on the right, and find it in English and German HERE.
About this series
Supporting Comparative Constitutional Law
In the last twenty years, especially as a consequence of the popular uprisings in the region in 2011, the institutions charged with constitutional review in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa – be it Constitutional Courts, Constitutional Councils, Supreme Courts or High Tribunals - are being reformed (e.g. Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan). Some, already earlier too, have been established for the first time (e.g. Bahrain in 2002, Iraq in 2004 or Saudi Arabia in 2009), some have been attributed new competences, and new procedures have been introduced, thus indicating a rising awareness for the importance of constitutional review as an instrument for judicial oversight. With constitution-building processes and reform of constitutional courts ongoing, comparative constitutional law has become a topic on the rise.
Over the past half century, the German post-war constitutional state has gained respect internationally. At the basis of its economic, political and social development lies its constitutional system. The German Federal Constitutional Court has played a fundamental role since in the country’s efforts to establish a stable, balanced system of government, and in upholding the constitution, its principles and the individual rights vested in it. Within more than 70 years of jurisdiction it has continuously done so by applying, interpreting and developing the constitutional framework of Germany.
This - in 2019 - initiated series of the Rule of Law Programme Middle East & North Africa strives to present constitutional concepts that have been of fundamental relevance to the (positive) development of the German constitutional state. In order to meet a growing interest of young Arab speaking scholars from the region in comparative constitutional law, the Rule of Law Programme Middle East & North Africa has decided to complement this endeavour by publishing a series of selected works on German constitutional law in Arabic translation. The works translated into Arabic and published in this series invite to explore, compare and debate existing concepts and solutions that were developed to address certain questions.
Beirut, 2019; by Anja Schoeller-Schletter (edited in 2023)
Philipp Bremer
Head of the Rule of Law Program Middle East and North Africa